Of same place



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1. M. J. DOLPHIN.

I STAMP'GANOELING MACHINE. No. 541,078. Patented June 18,1895.

WITNESSES: N INVENTUR v I ATTORNEY.

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

M. J. 'DO LPHI N. STAMP CANOELING MACHINE.

Patented June 18, 1895.

INVENTUR -J/[L% l40 @404, BY W W ATTDR N EY WITNESSES: Z

0.. wAsmNmou o c (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

M. J. DOLPHIN. STAMP GANGELING MACHINE.

Patented June 18, 1895.

w EN

INVENTOR WITNESSES:

ATTORNEY m: xcmms PETERS no. wom-uwo wAsmNoTbn. a c.

(no Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet'4. M; J. DOLPHIN.

- STAMP UANCELING'MAGHINE. No. 541,07 Patented June 18, 1895 1 1L941. Ian lHii J 11 INVENTUH WITNESSES:

ATTO R N EY MATTHEW J. DOLPHIN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THEINTER- NATIONAL POSTAL SUPPLY COMPANY OF NEW YORK, OF SAME PLACE.

. :SYTAMP-CANCELING MACHINE.

SPECIFIGATIONforming part of Letters Patent No. 541,078, dated June 18,1895. Application filed September I9, IBSL Serial No. 250,062 (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MATTHE J. DOLPHIN, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Stamp-CancelingMachines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of ma- IO chines or devices known asstamp cancelers or stamp canceling machines, primarily intended forcanceling postage stamps or printing post marks upon letters, or bothcanceling and printing; and has for its objects the provision of simple,certain, efficient and automatically operating, devices, whereby theprinting or canceling or both may be rapidly and accurately accomplishedupon envelopes and packages of the usually varying sizes,

'20 without arresting the movements of the machine or requiringattention from the operator further than to introduce the packages orletters into the hopper; and also to secure certain advantages in thematter of construction, arrangement, and operation of parts, all as willhereinafter more fully appear.

To these ends, my invention involves, first, the application of acontinuously rotating printing wheel in the path of the letter or otherarticle operated upon, bearing upon its periphery the marks or devicesto be impressed or printed, a regulatingmechanism arranged in connectionwith said, printing wheelnot to control the movements of the said wheel,which are continuously and prac:

tically uniform,but to regulate the movements of the letters or packagesto bringthe points thereon where the imprint is tobe made into properrelation with respect to that 40 portion of the printing wheelupon'which the printing characters or devices are located, as the sameare brought opposite the position Where the -printing or canceling isefiected; second, a presser wheel normally at rest and out of operativeconnection with the printing wheel and normally out of the path of theletter; third, automatically operating devices forbringing the presserwheel into action at the proper instant, and, fourth, a variety ofattachments or adjuncts, and new and useful combination and arrangementof parts, the

principles and constructions as well as the mode of operation of allof'which, will be hereinafter first fully explained and the prominentpatentable features then pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specification, Figure1 is a side elevation of a stamp-canceling machine with my improvementsapplied thereto, parts being broken away to show them more clearly; Fig.2, an end elevation of the same, looking in the direction from which thearticles are delivered; Fig. 3, a plan view thereof; Figs.

4 and 5, front and side elevations, respectively, of the printing,canceli ng,and delivery devices, some of the parts being broken away inboth figures; Figs. 6 and 7, sectional plan views taken on the line asa: of Fig. 4, Fig. 7 showing the parts in a slightly-different positionthan in Fig. 6 or after having been acted upon by the letter or otherarticle; Fig. 8, a vertical axial sectionof t-he inking roll and well,and Fig. 9 an enlarged detail of a portion of the timing mechanism. 7

In all the figures like'letters of reference indicate correspondingparts.

A represents the hopper or receptacle which is provided with thevertical side walls a a, and is constructed of such size as to receiveany desired number of letters or postal cards. These letters or cardshave only to be roughly bunched and placed on edge in the hopper, thestampor side on which the printing is to be done being turned toward theside on which the printing wheel is located, and the bunch or mass maybe added to by single articles or by bunches, as may be desired.

B indicates an endless traveling apron or belt' forming the bottom ofthe hopper and serving to support and carry forward toward the deliveryend of the same the letters or cards deposited thereon, and O O O arethe rolls which act in connection with the presser roll C tosuccessively withdraw the letters or 5 cards from the mass thusdelivered and carry them forward to the printing and canceling devices.

The rolls 0 O O which are preferably formed of, or covered with, ayielding and elastic material,such,f0r instance, as rubber, are arrangedat the forward end of the wall a of the hopper A, with their peripheriesextending to or substantially to the plane of the inner side of saidwall, and are carried by vertical shafts, c c 0 respectively, which arejournaled at their lower ends in the base plate A and at their upperends in the bracket A Secured to the lower end of the shaft 0 is apulley, D, by means of which said shaft and the roll 0 carried therebyare rotated, such pulley receiving a belt or band, E, which extends toand around a second pulley on the main driving shaft of the machine, orother source of power (not shown), and being actuated therefrom. roll 0is likewise provided near its upper end with a pulley, cl, which isrigidly secured thereto, and receives rotation from the shaft 0, throughthe intermediary of a belt, 6, and pulley, e, and transmits the same toits own supporting shaft, and, through the pulleys e c and belt e, tothe shaft 1; and roll 0 where by the three several shafts o c c, and therolls thereon, are all caused to rotate in the same directionsynchronously.

The presser roll C unlike the other rolls just mentioned, is notactuated by means of a belt or other similar motion transmittingdevices, and is not mounted in fixed bearings, but is so supported thatwhile held tightly pressed against the roll C, by means of the springsffinterposed between the boxes carrying the bearings and the bottom ofthe slots in the hangers in which such boxes are mounted, is yet free toyield backward therefrom, and is rotated by frictional contact with theroll G or by the article passing between the two.

F F are drums upon which the endless traveling apron or belt B ismounted. These drums are journaled in suitable bearings formed in thehangers F F, secured to the under side of the base plate A, and are soarranged with respect to the longitudinal axis of the hopper that, whilethey carry the apron or belt B, and the articles deposited thereon, in ageneral forward direction, they at the same time carry it over with sucharticles toward the front wall a of the hopper and toward the deliveryend of the same, motion being communicated to one of these rolls, as forinstance, the rearmost one, from a pulley F through the intervention ofpulleys, F F", and a belt, F said pulley F being rotated by the belt Epassing over the same. By these means, as will be seen, letters orpostal cards properly deposited in the hopper A will be carried forwardtoward the delivery end thereof, and the letters or other articlescontiguous to the front wall a of the same will be successivelywithdrawn and carried forward by the conjoint action of the rolls 0 O Cand presser roll C and delivered to the devices which are subsequentlyto act upon them.

In order to prevent the presentation to the last mentioned devices ofmore than one letter or card at the same time, I provide the The shaft0' carrying the roll H, which is preferably constructed of, or coveredwith, a yielding and elastic material, and cause it to rotate in thesame direction as the roll 0, but at a slower velocity, by theemployment of the pulleys h h and belt k The rolls 0 and 11 being thusarranged to rotate in the same direction, the contiguous points in theirsurfaces will, in the operation of the machine, move in oppositedirections, and while the rolls 0 C C and C will be carrying forward aletter or card, the roll H will tend to carry the surface with which itis in contact in the opposite direction, and, hence, the movement of anyletters or cards not in direct contact with the surface of the roll 0will be arrested until the same is brought into actual contignitytherewith.

The parts as thus far described constitute what I term the feedingdevices, and while novel in themselves are not claimed herein, but form,with other features, the subject of Letters Patent of the United StatesNo. 408,405, which were granted to me August (J, 1889, to whichreference may be had.

Immediately in advance of the feeding devices, and preferably upon thesame base or bed, is mounted the mechanism concerned in printing thepost marks and canceling the postage stamps upon the letters or otherpackages passing therethrongh, the same consisting of the guidingsprings I I, the printing roll J, and the inking apparatus therefor, thepresser or impression roll J, the carrying rolls K K, and the regulatingmechanism by means of which the movement of the letter or card iscontrolled to bring the point thereon where the printing or canceling orboth is or are to beetfected into proper relation with respect to theportion of the printingroll carrying the appropriate character ordevices, as the same is brought into proper position to perform thatresult..

The pri ntingroll J is preferably constructed in cylindrical form, andis provided on its periphery at j either by engraving or otherwise withappropriate characters or devices for printing the post mark orcanceling the stamp or both, and is rigidly secured upon the verticalshaft L, which also supports above 7 the same the carrying roll Kfixedly secured thereto. This shaft is mounted in suitable bearings Z Z,formed in or attached to the base plate A and bracket A respectively,and carries at its lower end a wheel M, by means of which, and the beltor band N, extending to and around a suitable pulley upon the maindriving shaft of the machine or other source of power (notshown),acoutinuous rotary motion is communicated thereto and to therolls carried thereby when the machine is in operation. The presser orimprcssion roll J is similarlybut loosely mounted upon the verticalshaft L, which, like the shaft L, also supports above said roll a secondcarrying roll K; but, instead of being mounted in fixed bearings, thisshaft is supported in bearings Z 1 formed in the ends of the arms of theframe 0 which is hung upon a rod, O, in such a manner as to befree toswing thereon, and

Tis held swung toward the shaft L, with the it forward through themachineboth during the time the printing and canceling is being effectedand afterwardthe-former of said rolls is 'yet capable of yielding andmoving away from the latter whenever an unusually thick article ispassed between them, a suitable stop (not shown), against which thelower arm of the frame 0 abuts, being employed for limiting the movementof such pressure roll toward the shaft L when the cut away portion ofthe former is turned toward the latter.

The presser or impression roll 'J' is formed of, or covered with, ayielding and elastic material, and its office is to press the letter orpostal card against the printing or stamp canceling surface of theprinting roll, in order to produce the desired impression thereon. Thisroll is not like the printing roll arranged to revolve continuously, noryet-intermittingly' at any regular interval, but normally remainsstationary and revolves only at the proper times forgiving theimpression at the instant and in the particular place required, as willhereinafter appear.

The path or direction of the letters or postal cards as they aredelivered or projected from the feeding devices is controlled by theguiding springs I I which,'with the passage between the printing andimpression rolls, constitutes a rectilinear letter way through which theletter or other article may travel without being subjected toobjectionable bendings or fiexures. These springs I 1 are preferably sodisposed as to guide the letter or other article along the letter waypast the printing roll at some little distance from such roll, in orderto prevent them from coming in contact with it, except when pressedagainst its surface by the presser rollJ', the springs I. beingpreferably secured to a post, 1 projecting upward from the base plate A,and the spring I being secured to an arm, k extending outward from theframe 0, as shown inFigs. 6 and 7.

From the construction of the parts above set forth, it will be readilyunderstood that, inasmuch as the printing roll is keptcontinu ously inrotation, it will print or cancel at any point of its path at which theletter or card happened to be pressed against the printing portion ofits surface, and that it is necessary, or highly desirable, to regulateor control the time at which the printing shallcommence with respect tothe position of the envelope or'card in the machine. For this purpose Iemploy what I term a regulating mechanism, which is so constructed andoperated as to insure the com mencement of the printing or cancelingonly when the letter or card has advanced to a certain point. The

construction ofthis mechanism is as follows: At a convenient point uponthe bed plate A, I secure a suitable post or stud,P, and apply to itsupper end, by screws or otherwise, a block, P, to the inner end of whichblock is hinged or pivoted, as at m, a second block, P of generalT-shape, having projecting from its under side a pin, 19. This block Pis normally held pressed forward against a suitable stop by a spring,'m', acting againsta projection on its rear side, and carries a slidingor yielding detent, n, the forward end of which, when in its normalposition, lies in the path of the traveling letter or other article, asshown in Fig. 6. The detent 'n, is held in its advanced position by avery light spring, n, secured at one end to the block P and bearing atits other end against the rear end of said detent. When therefore theparts are in the position-shown in the tigurelast mentioned the letterway is closed, and if they remained in that position no letter couldpass through the machine, but the rotation of the printing roll J bringsa pin 19' in its upper end, into engagement with the pin p, projectingdownward from the under side of the block P swinging such block backwardupon its pivot m against the spring m, carrying with it the detent n,and thereby removing it from the letter way, and allowing aletter orother articlevto pass on through between the printing and presser rolls.After the pin 19 in the printing rolls has passed the pin p in therotation of such rolls, and the forward end of the letter has passed thedetent, the spring m returns the block? to its normal position, thespring at permitting the detent n to yield as it strikes the letter orother article passing 'between the printing and presser rolls and toremain pressed back until the same has passed its end, when it returnsto its normal and original position ready for the next letter or article(see Fig. 7), and the same operation is repeated, the yielding detent,in consequence of the lightness of its spring, obviating to a greatextent the friction and other objectionable effects upon the letter orother article that would result if such detent was made rigid orintegral with the block P and was forced against the letter or article,by the stronger spring 'm. By these means, as will be perceived,theprinting roll at each revolution opens the letter way for the advancingletter, and not only insures that the said roll itself shall'be inproper position for imprinting the desired mark at the required place onthe letter, but also prevents any letter from coming into contact withthe printing roll, when'the letter-is out of position for printing thedesired mark at the required place.

The presser or impression roll J, instead of beingcylindrical throughoutits entire sur-' face, is cut away or flattened on one side, as shown atq, and normallythat is to say, until required for producing theimpression necessary for printingremains at rest, being brought intoaction and rotated at the proper time by the letter or postal card as itpasses the printing roll. When the roll J is at rest the cut awayportion q is turned toward the printing roll, and thus ample space isprovided for the free passage of the letters, &c., between the two, thesprings I serving to hold them from contact'with the printing roll. Tobring the roll J into operation so that it may be caused to revolve andexert the necessary pressure to effect the printing and canceling, it isprovided with a diametrically locatedbar or yoke, B, one end of whichextends to and across the path of the letters or postal cards and isstruck and carried forward by each of them in turn as they pass theprinting roll. This bar is movable in the. direction of its length uponthe roll J, being provided with slots through which pins or studs, q q,connected with said roll pass. A light spring, S, keeps this bar or yokenormally projecting beyond the face of the cutaway portion of the rollJ. It will thus be apparent that as soon as the projecting end of thebar or yoke R. is struck by the moving letter or postal card it will becarried along with it and will in turn start the roll J in acircumferential direction, bringing the cylindrical surface thereof intocontact with the travelingletter or postal card, as shown in Fig. 7. Thecylindrical portion of both the printing and presser rolls being now inengagement with the letter or card, and the former roll being driven bypower, all will move together and the latter roll will press the letteror card against the former roll and the printing will be then, and thenonly, accomplished. After the letter or card has passed between these.two rolls, or when the presser roll has made one complete rotation, itis of course necessary to stop said roll with its flat portion oppositethe printing roll, so that it will not press the letter against theprinting surface again, if a single rotation of the two rolls is notsufficient to carry the letter entirely through between them. For thispurpose I mount upon the frame 0 a stop. or p,

detent, T, the free end of which is so located as to just clear apin,,s, projecting downward from the under side of the bar or yoke, whensuch bar or yoke is thrust forward toward the printing rgll by thespring S, but will engage the same when moved back in the oppositedirection, and thereby arrest the movement of the. roll. If now a letteror postal card be inserted between the printing and presser rolls, whenthe machine is in operation, it will, after passing the detent n, asbefore stated, strike the projecting end of the bar or yoke and carry itforward, thus bringing the circumference of the roll into contact withthe letter or card. The continued movement of the letter or card, causedby the action of the printing and carrying rolls thereon, effects therotation of the presser roll, and brings the proj ecting end of the baror yoke back to its point of starting, but prior to reaching such pointit encounters the letter or card, which forces it back against theaction of the spring S, and

brings the pin 8 thereon into contact with the stop or detent T, therebyarresting the further movement of the roll and holding it until theletter or card has been carried entirely past the printing roll, by thecarrying rolls K K mounted above 'such printing and presser rolls, onthe shafts L L respectively; when such pin will be released from contactwith the stop or detent, and the parts returned to their normal positionready for the next printing operation. Provision is thus made forpreventing a second printing upon the same surface no matter how long itmay be.

With the printing devices above described may be employed any of thewell known forms of inking apparatus. I prefer however to make use ofthe form illustrated in the drawings, as being the most efficient, thesame being constructed and operated as follows:

V is an ink reservoir or well mounted upon an ink receiving rollorcylinder V, the latter being about the length of the printing sur face,and made up of some absorbent material, as felt, calculated to receiveand become thoroughly and uniformly saturated with the .iuk from end toend as it flows from the reservoir or well. The ink is preferably fed bygravity from the reservoir or well, in the bottom of which are radialopenings covered by a register plate, 15, which may be moved about itscentral axis or pivot by any convenient devices, as, for instance, therods i 25 extending upward through the cover V of the reservoirrotatively adjustable thereon. The ink is allowed to flow more or lessrapidly according to the degree at which the outlets are opened orclosed by the register plate. The cylinder V and reservoir or well Vrevolves continuously upon their common axis or shaft, being driven by abelt connection, it, from the printing roll J. From the rollVink isdelivered to the delivery roll W, which is so journaled as to come intocontact with the printing surface and also with the ink roll.

W is a distributing roll, held by a spring, 1), in contact with thedelivery roll \V, and operating to distribute the ink uniformly upon itbefore the same reaches the printing surface. By this simple means theink is evenly and automatically applied as rapidly as may be required,without in any way interfering with the eflicient operation of thefeeding and printing mechanism.

After being printed in the manner indicated, the letters or postal cardsare delivered from the machine in or upon any suitable or convenientreceptacle.

In the foregoing, I have described the best means contemplated by me forcarrying my invention into use. I wish it distinctly understood,however, that I do not limit myself strictly thereto, as it is obviousthat I may modify the same in various ways and still be within the scopeof my invention, as, for instance, I may employ other means forsupplying ink to the printing roll, and may also make use of other formsof feeding devices, those IIO shown and described being the formspreferred by me.

Having now fully described my invention and one way in which it is ormay be carried into effect, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States,

1. The combination, with a marking or printing device arranged forcontinuous rotation in the path of the letter, a hinged or pivoted blockfor obstructing such path, and

'apin arranged in connection therewith, of

mechanism for acting upon the pin to move the block from the path of theletter at the proper time, whereby the movement of the letter'withrespect to the movements of the marking or printing device is governed,and the marking or printing upon the letter at the required placeinsured, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a continuously operating feed, a marking orprinting device arranged for continuous rotation in the path of theletter, a hinged or pivoted block for obstructing such path, and a pinarranged in connection with said block, of mechanism for acting upon thepin to move the block from.

the path of the letter at the proper time, whereby the letter is carriedforward toward the marking or printing device, and its move ments withrespect to the movements of the latter not only governed, but themarking upon it at the required piaceinsured, substantally as described.

3. The combination, with a continuously operating feed, a marking orprinting device arranged for continuous rotation in the path of theletter, and a hinged or pivoted block for obstructing such path, of apin arranged in connection with said block, and operated proper time,whereby the letter is carried forward toward the marking or printingdevice, and its movements with respect to the movements of such devicenot only governed thereby, but the marking upon the letter at therequired point insured, substantially as described.

4:. The combination, with a continuously operating feed, a marking orprinting device arranged for continuous rotation in the path of theletter, a rectilinear letter way, a hinged or pivoted block arranged toproject across said letter way in the path of the letter, and a pincarried by said block, of means controlled by the marking or printingdevice for opening said letter way and admitting the advancing letter atthe moment when the marking device is in position to apply the requiredmark atthe required place on said letter, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a continuously operating. feed, a marking orprinting device arranged for continuous rotation in the path of theletter, a rectilinear letter way, a hinged or pivoted block arranged toproject across said letter'way in the path of the letter, and a pincarried by such block, of a pin carried by themarking or printing devicefor operating upon the first mentioned pin, to openthe letter way byswinging the hinged 0r pivoted ing letter into contact with the markingor printing device when such device is in position to apply the desiredmark upon the said block therefrom and admitting the advanc- 7 letter atthe required place, and a spring for returning the block to its originalposition when the letter has passed, substantially as described.

operating feed, and a continuously rotating marking or printing devicein the path of the letter, of an impression roller arranged opposite themarking or printing device, with its operating surface normally outsidethe path of the letter, a support for said roller, a spring, which,while holding such roller pressed forward toward the marking or printingdevice yet allows of its yielding backward therefrom, and means forbringing the operative surface of said impression roller into the pathof the letter to effect the marking or printing upon such letter,substantially as described.

8. The combination, with a continuously operating feed, and a marking orprinting device arranged for continuous rotation in the path of theletter, of an impression roller arranged opposite the marking orprinting device, with its operating surface normally outside the path ofthe letter, a support for said roller, a spring which, while holdingsuch roller pressed forward toward the marking or printing device, yetallows of its yielding backward therefrom, and a bar or yoke operated bythe letter itself for bringing the operating surface of the impressionroller into action to eflect the marking or printing upon the letter,substantially as described.

9. The combination, with a continuously operating feed, a marking orprinting device arranged for continuous rotation in the path of theletter, and an impression roller arranged opposite the marking orprinting device, with its operating surface normally outside the path ofthe letter, of a hinged or pivotedblock arranged to project across suchpath and carrying a pin, and appliances for respectively acting uponsaid pin to move the block out of the path of the letter, and forbringing the impression roller into operation, substantially asdescribed.

10. The combination, with a continuously operating feed, two carryingrollers, and two.

continuously rotating shafts upon which the carrying rollers aremounted, of a marking or printing device fixedly secured to one of thesaid shafts, and an impression roller loosely mounted upon the otherofsuch shafts, and devices whereby such impression roller may be broughtinto operation at the proper times; substantially as described.

11. The combination, with a continuously operating feed, a shaftcontinuously revolving in rigid bearings, andIa marking or printingdevice securely mounted on said shaft and rotating therewith in the pathof the letter, of an impression roller mounted in yield ing bearingswith its operating surface normally held outside of the path of theletter, and devices operated by the passing letter for bringing theoperating surface of such impression roller into action to force theletter against the marking or printing device, substantially asdescribed.

12. The combination, with a letter feed, a marking or printing device, ashaft continuouslyrevolvinginamovable oryielding frame, and animpression roller having a flattened or cutaway space opposite saidmarking or printing device, and loosely mounted upon said shaft out ofthe path of theletter and normally at rest, of a baror yoke operated bythe letter for bringing the impression roller into action and causing itto press the letter against the marking or printing device with ayielding pressure, substantially as described;

13. The combination, with a continuously rotating printing roll, animpression roller having a flattened or cut away portion and normally atrest, a bar or yoke carried by the impression roller and longitudinallymovable thereon, and a spring for normally holding its end projectedoverthe flattened portion, of a detent or stop against which such bar oryoke strikes when retracted against the action of said spring, to arrestthe rotation of the presser or impression roller, substantially asdescribed.

14. The combination, with the printing roll, and the mechanism forcontinuously rotating the same when the machine is in operation,

the detent n, and the springs m n, as and for the purposes specified.

16. The combination,with the continuously rotating roll the presser orimpression roller having a flattened or cut away portion, said rollerbeing normally at rest, and means whereby such im pressio'n roller isbrought into action by the letter or other article operated upon, of thecarrying rolls arranged above the printing and presser or impressionrolls to aid in carrying forward the letter or other article,substantially as described.

17. The combination, with a continuously rotating printing roll, thepresser or impres sion roll havinga flattened orcut away portion, saidroll being normally at rest, and means whereby such impression roller isbroughtinto operation by the action of the letter or other article beingoperated upon, of the guiding springs for conducting such letter orother article properly to said rolls, substantially as described.

18. The combination, with the printing roll I, the presser or impressionroll J, the guiding springs I l forming a passage-way for supporting,and conducting the letter or other article to-said rolls and holding itslightly removed from the former roll, when not acted upon-by the latterroll, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 17th day ofSeptember, 1887.

MA'FIIEW J. DOLPHIN.

\Vitnesses:

AUGUST BERTRAM, GRANT Sonnms.

